In Another Life
by Sassberry
Summary: Dawn disappeared after Buffy died. Now after seven years, Dawn is back with a vengeance to save the world with a Gang she knew but has more to discover about.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:** Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all the characters that appear on the show are the exclusive property of Joss Whedon, the WB, Fox and Mutant Enemy, Inc.

_**Authors Tip**_: This Story is about a year Post Chosen. This was written as if Season 8 and 9 had never occurred.

* * *

><p><span>XX<span>

**_2004_**

When Buffy died, it took something away from me. When I saw her coffin go into the ground it felt like something within me died. It felt like without her, my life was over and all I had to do was wait for my time to leave. The funny thing is when we had saved the world, I thought that nothing could stop us. But I was only 17 years old & No one saved Buffy. Not even me. To me, Buffy died like a human; But she lived as an angel.

When the ceremony was over, they started to pour the dirt over her coffin. And as they did, the strangers who I never knew walked away. While they did so time felt like it stood still, and for one more time so did the Scooby Gang.

I raised my head and for that moment, I peeked at the sky. I knew that in some kind of dimension Buffy was there. In Heaven. Again. I knew that everything she was made for, came true. Everything that she stood for was still here... in me.

I turned to Giles with a small smirk on my face. He took his glasses off and cleaned them like he usually did. "Dawn I– " "No." I said cutting him off. I didn't want to hear an 'I'm sorry' or 'It'll be okay.' I looked him in the eyes & as he put his glasses on, I nodded to assure him. I don't know about what but with one look I tried to tell him that it would be okay. That I would be okay. The corners of his mouth slightly curved upwards. Then I knew for the time being. . . I would be okay. I parted my lips and took a deep breath. "I just need to get out, Y'know? While I still can."

Xander put his hand on my shoulder my body tender and warm. He gazed at me through his one eye & I knew how he wanted to say he was sorry. He hesitated, "...Don't forget to write." I smiled faintly.

When I went to look at Willow, she had this...pout. This pout she has when she knows that she can't do anything. This time, though she wanted to so bad, Willow couldn't bring her back. Being chained by the rules of life. Her eyes looked like glass trying to keep her tears inside. She stared as the men poured dirt over Buffy. I knew it hurt her to look at me. "Willow," I almost whispered. As I said her name, her eyes shot directly at me. Her bottom lip quivered and she closed her fists tightly. I took one step and she took four back. A tear fell out of my eye as I trembled with a plead. Her engine red hair, waved in the wind. She lowered her head and closed her eyes tightly. "This is just too damn hard," she said through her teeth before she ran away.

"Will," Xander yelled after her, trying to catch up with her.

My head hung down, trying to hold everything in. Giles stood behind me and I knew he was waiting for me to hug him like Buffy or Anya did. But I couldn't do it, without breaking everything that I was trying to be. I wiped my tear and turned to Giles. "Promise me," I sniffled trying to paint a smile on my face, "That if you need anything, you..." My voice began to break. I wanted to be so strong but I never knew how much power I had to have to become strong. He held my shoulders and softly spoke. "I promise with all that I have, Dawn." I nodded one more time before I walked away. I needed to save myself. So I disappeared into the night...

_I was only 17..._

"How do you feel today?"

_...But I'm not anymore..._

"The same.."

_...I learned what I had to seven years ago..._

"And what is that, Dawn?"

_...And It came to the expense of the ones I love..._

"...Empty..."

_Never Again._

XX

**_2011_**

"Are the dreams still the same?" My therapist asks' the same question. How do I feel, if I have the same dreams, if I want to be on medication, do I have suicidal thoughts. This has all been routine for me. I just learned to speak on auto pilot.

"Yes."

"Are they getting bad, that you might want to take pills for it?"

"No."

She removed her glasses and placed them on an antique looking table she had next to her. She reminded me of an ex Librarian whom I used to know so well. "You know, Dawn. Eventually you're going to have to open up." My leg started to bounce up and down with anticipation to get out. She continued softly, "you wont get any better unless you open up to not only me, but to yourself."

I grabbed my green army jacket and stood up. "Maybe Susan, I don't want to open up. Did it ever occur to you that it would be best for everyone else?" She had parted her lips to speak to me, but I slammed the door behind me.

I wanted to get away form everything; Away from life, away from Demons – EVERYTHING. But In life you can get away from certain things.

They just follow you.

Or... you look for them subconsciously.

Moving from Sunnydale and California altogether, was the best decision I've made my whole life. Even though I consider that the best decision, I wonder if the choices I've made lately are just as valuable.

I flicked a switch. The lights flickered on and off multiple times before they turned into a yellowish green, inside of the warehouse. I walked into the middle of the Boxing ring that was in the Warehouse and sat in the middle of it. I closed my eyes to feel the aura of the room. It was quiet. Sometimes, I just missed the sound of nothing. Nothing coming for me, nothing coming _at _me. Nothing coming to me. But when it's quiet like this, you begin to hear things. Things you don't want to hear. When you're haunted for so long, you begin to see things you don't want to. I didn't want to see _her_ but I did. She was there grabbing her chest, calling for me. And I just...

"Dawn?"

_I just wish I could go back..._

"Ms. Summers?"

"What Did I Say About Calling me that?"

"I'm sorry, we've been here for over fifteen minutes now. What are the first orders, Dawn?"

I opened my eyes, and appeared 6 girls. "Start Warming Up.."

I walked out of the ring, and watched all of them warm up. As I observed, these girls were young, maybe 15. The same when I was... They were just young. These girls had the same thing my sister did. They all had the ability to break a door, without force. These girls could be the best slayers in the world but they were so scared. And with everything I've seen in the past 10 years, they had every right to be.

"Alright, line up," I firmly shouted at them. They all got in a line and imitated the posture of soldiers. It was written on their face, they were all scared. I walked into the ring and stood in front of them. It was quiet, all that could be heard was the faucet dripping in the back. I paced back and fourth in front of them, and started to speak."You are all strangers to one another. Frankly, you don't know each other, me or yourselves. You're here for a specific reason. You are all extremely strong & I get it, you're all scared. You want to know what you are, and what does it all mean & I'm here to tell you. What you are is called a slayer. To be more specific: A Vampire Slayer."

They all looked at each other as if it was a joke. "There are such things as Demons, Werewolves, Vampires, and everything else you can imagine. Even the things you can't." They began to laugh at me, as if I was crazy, living in some kind of fantasy. I wish it was, but it's not. I looked down and smiled."You guys laugh at me. You think I'm kidding, right? Like this is play time at Disney world? But answer me this, you all have the dreams don't you? Of other girls, dying? You have those dreams, right? You had a dream of someone dying because their blood has been drained. People in Africa doing weird, freaky things. You all have them." Suddenly they all stopped laughing. I knew right then and there I had them hooked.

"This is all real," I continued, "Everything you read in the books and in the movies are real. But in real life, it gets worse than that. You're all scared. I'm here to assure you, that it's okay to be scared. It's okay to not know what to do, because honestly, everyone who deals with what you deal with doesn't know what they're doing. This is a hard road and to be harsh most of you will die. It's okay to feel alone," I stopped. My hands began to tremble as Buffy came to mind. "...It okay to feel like no one can understand. What you feel, I can't understand it. But you all need to know, all over the world there are others like you. Externally you are not alone, but Internally you might be. With the next couple of months, I am here to help you. Help you fight against evil. With my help, you might just have a chance. With my help, you might live just a bit longer. If you guys can accept that, then we have an understanding. If you guys can't accept that, you might just die sooner. If there are any questions, don't be afraid to ask me. But as for today's session we're done. You can pack your things and go. Make sure to be here tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn. Don't be late."

When they packed their things and walked out of the ring, it was quiet . All that was heard was a faucet dripping. It was nice listening to the sound of silence, but this time it was different. It wasn't the sound haunts, it was the sound of power. The help that I would be giving these girls. I watched every single one of these girls, walk out, and I knew that maybe this time my choices were better than me moving away from Sunnydale. I felt this time there was a purpose.

I walked to the back of the warehouse toward a closet, and took a deep breath. To anyone else, It would be just a regular closet where you would put clothes, and to some extent, they were right. I hung up my army jacket, and moved all of the hangers and clothes to the left. Once I moved everything, there was a finger print detector. I placed my hand on it, and it mechanically said my name. The wall moved inwards and then to the side, making it seem like there wasn't a wall to begin with. I walked into the wall, and down the stairs. There was more noise down here then there was up there. Being around demons, warlocks, and vampires all of your life, you learn to make friends.

"Tell me something Jordan," I said calmly. I walked around the basement of the warehouse staring at computer screens.. It gave me the feel of high school every-time I came in here. Like I was in the computer lab, except it was just darker, and more 007-esque.

"Hey Dawny," Jordan said to me. He clicked his computer mouse a few times and then spoke, "how are you today?"

"The same as every day," I said in a monotone voice.

"Mmm, tired?"

"You hit it right on the nail, Jordan."

He chuckled. "How many showed up today?"

I brushed my hair back with my fingers, "Only ten."

"There's only Ten in Illinois? Do we have to make a commercial or something?"

I laughed, "We live in Chicago. Not Hollywood."

"True," he said as he continued to type into one of his numerous computers. He cracked his knuckles, like he usually did before he stared. "Alright, last night four boys were found in the school parking lot. Drained of blood. They were sent to the morgue today, and are being buried as we speak."

I strolled around the room, looking at the screens attentively listening to him. "Mkaay. Is that it?"

He scoffed, "Barely. A group of girls were found near the club 'Pony Stash,' Drained blood too."

"How many?"

"Six or seven."

"So we have about 10 teenagers who probably are horny vampires, right about now?"

"Pretty Much," he responded.

I moved my head around, cracking my neck. I took a long stretch and then sighed immediately after. "I'm gonna head to the War room. Get some equipment. Wanna come patrolling?"

He turned around and looked at me, with his childish smile. He pushed his glasses up, "Can I?"

"Sure.. I can use some warlocking tag team power. You know where to find me."

I walked out of the room, and headed back upstairs. I stretched my arms out and rolled my neck once again. The wall slammed right into place, after I moved the clothes back where they were. I walked to the boxing ring and played with the roped for a minute. And just when I was about to go to the back room in the warehouse, something felt off. My body started to warm up, like a spider sense. I knew no one knew where I was, so it couldn't be a vampire or so I thought. Vampires get clever after a while. They use better tactics now. My heart started to beat faster and faster. I continued to move towards the war room, as if I hadn't suspected anything. I placed a strand of hair behind me ear, and I felt it again. I felt like there was an intruder invading my space. So I closed my eyes, and there it was. In my eyes I saw a vision of someone touching my shoulder. Quickly I turned around.

I countered them touching as I rotated their arm, and grabbed them by the neck. I moved them to the nearest wall and held them there. The smirked placed on their face was familiar. Their long, silky brunette hair seemed like home to me. She licked her lips and blinked her honey brown eyes.

"Hey Dawn," she said tauntingly.

I still held my grip. I was trying to figure out how she found me. How did she look for me. What was the purpose of her being here. My throat felt dried so I swallowed hard. It was a bitch to hide, but it took a bigger bitch to find me.

"Hey, Faith."


	2. Chapter 2

"So do you think you could let go," she asked sarcastically.

We both knew that she could have gotten out of that if she wanted to. She had the power of a thousand men, she could have broken my arm easily.

I let go of my grip violently leaving fingernail marks on her neck. I took two step back and crossed my arms. She fixed her leather jacket and then her hair. I pursed my lips and set my face with an unamused expression which wasn't hard to do.

"What are you doing here, Faith?"

"Damn D," she said slyly like she usually did, "I can't get a 'Hi, how have you been? It's been seven years? Let me take you for a cup of coffee?'"

I didn't move. She sucked her teeth and took a deep breath. "Alright," she said. Her expression easily changed from comedian, to serious. A side I had never seen before. "Can we go somewhere, so we could talk?" I stood still for minute trying to come up with multiple reasons for why she would be here. I ended up with nothing. With no words, I walked toward the war room. I figured if she tried anything I can kill her and end it once and for all.

We walked toward something that seemed to be a janitors closet. She scoffed. "I wanted to talk to you," she said jokingly, "Not play seven minutes in heaven."

I still wasn't amused. We walked inside and it seemed a mess filled with brooms, and mops, and other plumber necessities. Just how I wanted it to be. I kicked some things to the side, and came across my safe. I turned to Faith, "Move that safe." Her eyebrow arched high, but with no questions she did. I directed her to put it near the door so I wouldn't forget to put it back. When she put it down, I crouched near the wall where the safe was and removed a brick from the wall. Located behind the brick was a breath analyzer. I placed my breath on it and mechanically, it said my name.

The wall caved inwards and moved to the side. "Let's Go," I said.

As I went, she followed. I turned the lights on and there was the war room. A Large white room that could have fit three times the house I grew up in. Faith was amazed. I've been here for so long, that it seemed like normality to me.

"Look at you D," she said with a smile on her face, "you got yourself a training room. For it second it looks like you were a slayer in training."

There wasn't anything in the room... at least anything visible. Just two chairs, a few paintings and and a table with a huge water tank next to it. She pulled the chair closer to the table. She sat then leaned over to take the wooden stakes out of her boots. She took the crosses out of her leather jacket and then moved her neck around making peculiar crack sounds. I knew then that she wasn't here for a deed. This was something serious. I walked to the chairs with a cup of water in my hand and handed it to her. She drank the water in one gulp before I even sat down. I leaned forward putting my elbows on the table. It was quiet. Nothing to be heard.

"Do you want more," I asked dully.

"Nah," she said leaning back putting one elbow on the back of the chair and stretching one of her legs out. , "I don't like to use bathrooms. Less is best."

A moving smirk placed on my face. It came... and then it went.

"I bet ya wanna know how I found you," she delicately said added with a smirk.

"Of course I do."

An over fatigued sigh escaped her mouth as she sat as straight as she could. Her eyes fixed onto mine.

"A lot of stuff is going down, Dawn. I don't even know how to explain it. And I'm the honorary slayer, here."

Dully I asked, "What stuff, Faith?"

She brushed her hair back with her hand. "After B died, everyone disappeared. Giles, Xander, even Willow. The last I heard of Willow she was dealing with some kind of warlock and he had her hooked on the juice again. I came across her two years after B died, and I almost had to kill her. She disappeared though, and I haven't been able to track her since. From the time we made Sunnydale an outie to an inny, I've been doing some freelance; Going from city to city killing what I can. But for the past two years or so, these guys are so different."

I didn't understand what she was saying. My face twitched, and I think she caught it. She looked down at her boots, and then back into my eyes. "When I was in New York, I was tracking down this three horned demon. Eventually, I found him and I tried to take him down. I was hurt pretty bad, but you should have seen the bruises on him. When I tried to choke him with near by chains from behind, some voodoo stuff started to happen. His head... it turned like a 180. His eyes turned gray... and like I swore I saw a cross in his eyes. He laughed at me and then his voice changed. He said the prophecy was near."

"The prophecy," I repeated. I tried to think of anything in my readings about the Prophecy but nothing came to mind. "I don't get it."

"Neither did I," she said, "At first I thought it was just the three horned demons, and then it became Vampires, goblins, and everything you could think of. Everyone we have gone against, any type of creature. They all talk about the prophecy. But that's not the crazy part."

Was she kidding? "It's not," I said sarcastically.

"...Vampires... they're bleeding."

Apparently she wasn't. I tried to comprehend what she was saying. "Faith, Vampires don't bleed."

She smirked. "But humans do. I started to study them. Pace myself before I killed them. They've gotten slower. They run out of breath. Dawn... Vampires don't have to breathe. Then I started to realize that when I punched them, it hurt them more than it hurt me."

"So, are they humans or Vampires?"

"I think they were humans, who were turned into vampires, and then are slowly turning back into humans."

"And you haven't been able to find Giles?"

"...I did. Him and I have been working for a few months together."

"Wow.. You and Giles are finally on the same page?"

She smiled. "I guess so." Her smile briskly vanished. "Dawn," she said slowly, "he's the one who found you."

My eyebrows furrowed together migrating away from my hairline. I stared at her. She did the same.

Faith was a good person, she had just made bad decisions. No one gave her the chance to be who she could have been. I know how that feels. She was burned by Buffy's light. She went down the wrong road, but she was still a good person. She was lost. So was I. I know there was something that was missing that she wasn't telling me. If she wasn't telling me, there was a reason. I parted my lips, and whispered, "Why?"

"We know you've been training slayers for the past five years. Some of them have came to us. The ones who came from you, were hella good. Just like B was. He knew you were helping for a while, but every time he asked them where you were, they would never answer."

"That was rule number one," I intervened coldly.

"It took him a while to find you. He started looking at maps, guessed where you could be. I'd head out to the place. See you weren't here and then we'd go back to square one again. He finally learned to use the computer, then he started cross referencing crap. He lives in Cleveland, now. Not far from here. I actually came to Chi-town a few times trying to find you. But you are hard to find."

"..So how _did_ you find me?"

She smiled again and pulled out a card from her leather jacket. She handed it to me. "I got into a rough housing at a demon bar. I took 'em out, and then I got _recruited._" I looked at the card. I smiled hard, realizing that Jordan had been recruiting Slayers to come to me. The front of the Card said "Five By Five industries."

"I'm sorry for stealing your phrase.."

She shrugged it off, "Nah, don't worry about it. Made me feel special." She stood up and so did I. I fixed my shirt, and she fixed her jacket. She focused her eyes onto me until I looked at her. "Dawn, he wants to see you."

a beat passed.

"I just started training potential slayers today. I can't just get up and leave them. They don't know what they are capable of, they don't deserve to be alone."

It was too soon, I couldn't see Giles. Not because I didn't want to, but because I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready to face the things I left behind. _I wasn't ready to face Buffy. _

She looked at me with a sense of compassion scribed on her face. "Dawn, you know better than anyone they will always be alone. But if that's how you want it, let me stay. I can teach them a thing or two. I still got it."

And for the first time in so long, I laughed. My heart beat amplified as I heard the sound.

I walked to the door and leaned over to place my breath on the analyzer, when I heard her voice.

"Yo Dawn," she said standing awkwardly.

I turned around and raised my eyebrows, waiting to hear what she had to say.

"You grew up good, kid. You got a pair of knockers on you," she said as she held her hands away from her chest, insinuating I had balloons on my chest.

I looked down to see the size of them. I didn't think they were that big. "Yeah well," I said carelessly, "Your face got fat."

She smiled as the wall moved to the side and we exited into the Janitors room.


	3. Chapter 3

If you had to compare cemeteries against each other, Sunnydale would beat Chicago's any day. At least Sunnydale was known for it's massive amounts of death, so they made their tombstones pretty. Everything here is a bunch of rubble and you can't quite tell who is who, so you have to pretty much just guess what's fresh and what really isn't. I learned how to tell the difference, but Faith has been having a tough time distinguishing between the two. Faith isn't like anyone else I know in Chicago. Humph... I find myself always comparing things to Sunnydale; The cafe shops, the schools, the neighborhood, the houses, and people – especially the people. Everyone here is so cold and heartless, trying to make it through until they can the next day. For so long, you feel like you're a ghost and like no one can see you so you become so alone. A thing like that can make you go crazy. It can make you change. Faith being here, makes things a little better. Like a little piece of home is with me.

I strolled along the cemetery, waiting for our first victim to show up. I held the stake in one hand, tracing the cross which was carved into the stake with the other. I searched the perimeter, looking for clues as to where the newly-turned vampires would be. But I had nothing, which by now, is very peculiar... _Something seems __ü__ber __suspicious tonight._

My body began to tingle, like a spider-sense. Something was off about tonight and in the back of my head something told me to retreat. I considered doing so... but then again, I never listen to the voices inside my head. I began to walk faster to the neutral base, trying to find Jordan. When Buffy died, I vowed I would never be close to anyone but when I met Jordan I vowed never to let someone close to me die. When I met him, there was something special about him. He had this... power, and dealing with the super-freaky you can feel it sometimes. He was just as cold as me, he held a lot inside and he never told anyone. When he told me the truth about where he's from, I knew I had to keep him close. I had to keep him protected. I didn't want him to be different; I didn't want him to be like me.

From a distance, I saw Jordan, playing with his cross-bow. I pulled my walkie from my sweater, and pressed the big button on the side. "Everything Clear over there?"

I saw him put the cross-bow down and pick up his walkie and reply, "Clear as crystal, Dawn."

I smiled, "Alright, let me know if anything happens."

"Alright boss," he said as I started on my route again.

From behind, I could feel Faith running. I pretended like I didn't know.

"Hey," she said, "Everything looks clean. What are we looking for?"

"Uh" I said trying to calculate how many teenagers died yesterday, "About ten teens. Six or Seven girls, the rest being boys."

"Alright, cool," she said trying to catch her breath as she strolled along with me. I looked up at the sky staring at the full moon. "You know," she said. Although I wasn't looking at her, I can hear the smile in her voice. "This is kinda cool. Patrolling with the second of the Summers. This reminds me of the old times."

I pushed hair behind my ear and smiled. I tried not to look at her as my eyes began to look like glass. It seemed like Faith was the closest thing to Buffy I had. I just wanted to sit down and talk to her, and ask what Buffy was like when I wasn't around. But there wasn't time. There would never be time. I rubbed my eyes, pretending something was in them, but Faith knew. She turned away, so she would give me time to clear my eyes.

"Faith," I asked as normal as I could, "Does Giles know? About your theory? The Prophecy?"

"Nah," she said, "I haven't told him yet. I didn't want him to think I was a looney. Besides, if it is real, he'd have his nose in his books like usual."

We both chuckled at the image of classic Giles, doing what he does. I looked down because I didn't want to see her expression, "Does he know you're here? With me?"

"Do you want him to know?" I picked my head up and kept looking forward. I didn't know how to answer that. She inhaled softly, but exhaled hard. She stop walking, but I continued. "Why don't you come with me to Cleveland?"

I slowed down, until I eventually stopped. I chewed the inside of my lower lip before I turned around. "I told you," I responded softly, "I can't leave those girls."

"So then take them with you. It could be like when you were a kid in Sunnydale, with the potentials."

"I am not a little kid anymore," I snapped unable to hear the ending of her sentence. My voice echoed and filled the whole cemetery. I'm pretty sure Jordan heard me. She flinched at the level of my voice. My eyes slowly turned to glass again. Trying to keep the tears inside, I continued, "It will never be like Sunnydale!"

_It came back... that feeling. _

Oblivious to what was happening, Faith continued to speak. "Dawn, I know you're scared but you have to know– " I cut her off.

The spider-sense came back to me.. something was happening. I looked away, trying to feel where the energy was coming from. I put my finger in her face, signaling her to be quiet so I could hear what was happening. Her brows burrowed together trying to comprehend what I was doing. I turned around, and closed my eyes trying to get a mental view of the cemetery. As I concentrated, I saw Jordan still playing with his cross-bow & from behind I see a vampire try to attack him.

In a sudden, I grabbed the walkie with my eyes closed still. "Jordan," I screamed through it, "Ten O'clock! NOW!"

I ran back to the neutral base where he was and Faith followed. When I came to the neutral base, I saw Jordan being picked up by the Vampire. Jordan's face turned red, suffocating from the tight grip that he was in. From behind the vampire, I took my stake and drove it into where his heart would be. He drops Jordan in a mere instant and turns around and looks at me with a devious expression placed upon his face. Jordan runs away with his cross bow, frightened. The monster begins to laugh, but his voice begins to change. My eyes looked bewildered, trying to figure out whats happening.

"Crap... It's happening!" Faith says as her voice goes from calm, to hysterical. "Keep him busy!" She says as she runs into the Mausoleum. I look at her running, only for a brief second, then back to this monster. The vampire has this wild look on his face and had this feeling that he was going to swing his hand at me. As he swung his hand back, I had to think of what I was going to do. "I may not have the strength to kill you," I said to myself and as he swung forward, I crouched down and poked a nerve behind his knee. "But I do have the stuff to make you weak," I said as he towered down to the ground. Faith came running back from the mausoleum with a metal chain. She jumped on its back, and swung the chain around his neck. She squeezed extremely tight, as one slayer would, and began to grunt. The vampire then began to laugh again, this time with a more demonic tone to his voice. His head started to contort, until it looked at Faith in the eye. I walked behind Faith, so I could see what was happening. His eyes faded from white, to gray and as they did, the white in his eyes that stayed was in the shape of an upside down cross. "The prophecy is near. There's nothing your world can do to save themselves."

"What does that mean," Faith said through her teeth as she applied more pressure to the chains.

He laughed again, "You will soon know."

Before she could ask another question his head split from his body, causing all parts to turn into dust.

She dropped forward, breathing heavily. She held her body up only by the palms of her hands. She wipes her face with the back of her hand, she turns around with a look of defeat. More worse, a look of fear. I held my hand out, and she grabbed it, pulling herself up all the way. It was quiet, and all that could be heard was the sway of the trees. I stared up at the sky, and for once I saw something that was not normal.

"Faith," I said with a monotone voice.

"Yeah," she said carelessly.

"Do they always look like that when you fight? Or is it once in a while?

"Once in a while, why?"

"Is there always a full moon when it happens?"

"I don't know. Why, Dawn?"

I pointed to the sky. "Because I've never seen anything like that before." Above us was a Violet sky, mixed in with gray clouds. As we stared at the moon, it transitioned from yellow to bloody red.

"What the hell is that," Faith said as her voice trembled with fear.

In that moment, we knew that something was happening. Something worse & this was bigger than us.

"Guys," Jordan said nervously with the cross-bow tightly gripped in his hand. I looked at his face and with the traumatized look he had composed on his face I knew something was wrong.

"What is it Jordan?"

He swallowed hard. "I think you should see this."

We followed Jordan to the back of the cemetery. Faith looked at me and I looked back, "I'm just as confused as you are."

Jordan stops, and we both then stop. He turns around and says "Stay here." We take the order, and her stands in between five tombstones. The shape of them were in an order of a pentagon.

"I know you see it," he says as if he were reading my mind. "I was trapped here, by 8 Vampires. They were bigger than me, and I freaked out because I didn't even see them. But as soon as I picked up the cross-bow they turned to dust."

"Where did they come from," Faith asked, still confused more than ever.

Something was off about this area in the cemetery. The tombstones were small, and there were rattlers and bibs, and kid toys. _What the hell was happening? _

"They didn't come from here," I said after a beat passes by. My eyebrows came close together as I monitored the area around me. Faith looked at me, unable to see what I do.

"How do you know that, D?"

I stopped looking around me, because it was the most painful thing to see. My eyes found Faith's and I parted my lips. "If Jordan said they were bigger than him, they couldn't have been from here. We're in the kid section of the cemetery. No graves have been dug out.."

"...Then where the hell did they come from?"

I took a breath and glanced around me one last time. "I don't know Faith," I said as I walked away. It was to unbearable to be around. "I don't know."


	4. Chapter 4

The hours of night and day fade into each other. The walk back to the warehouse wasn't long as I thought it would be, but a quiet one. My head tried to come back with a million ideas as to what I was up against, but I couldn't think of one. Could it be something from our past coming to haunt us once again? Would they really do that three times? I tried to think and as I did, one question appeared: _What would Buffy do. _Though Buffy had a strategic group in Giles, Willow, and Xander, all I have is Jordan and Faith. In a sense Faith would take Buffy's place and Jordan would take Willows. So who would that leave me to be? Xander?

Oh god. I'm a Zeppo.

I am worth more than he was. I mean, Xander was always a major part of the group. He demolished black willow for christ sakes! And all he did was talk! That's brilliant moves for someone who doesn't have a power don't you think? I mean Xander was always a hero to me, he had this thing bout him that drove a girl crazy. I mean I can see why Anya –

_Wait. _

"Dawn?"

_What the hell am I doing? This is not a time to be thinking about Alexander Harris. For all I know, he's forgotten me. _

"Yo, D!"

_They always do._

"Dawnie," Faith said as she shook me.

I must have doze off, while thinking about things. Faith was lying on the floor sleeping the rest of the night away while Jordan went to the computer room to find out what happened in the cemetery. I swore it was only five seconds. I rubbed my face as I turned to see that it was increasingly light outside.

"There are girls here," faith continued.

I took a deep breath and let out a mere stretch. "Tell them to align in the boxing ring. They know what to do. Just stand in there and don't say anything."

She nodded and walked out of the room. I can hear her voice bounce of the warehouse walls as she yelled at them to line up. I stood up and stretched my legs. I put my hair in a ponytail and put on my army jacket. I walked out of the back room and toward the ring.

They stood quiet, waiting for what was to be heard. I entered the ring and clasped my hands together and stared at them for only a second. I can tell they were interested in Faith.

"This is Faith Lehane," I announced to the potential slayers. The girls stood in a lined formation inside of the boxing ring like they had yesterday. They dressed in gym clothes, like you would at a gym. By the way they stood, they way they dressed, I knew they didn't take this as seriously as they should. "This is _the _slayer. The main one. The official honorary one." Faith's face lit up, as she suddenly became the center of conversation, the potentials looked at her like she was one of those celebrities on a red carpet. "She's here to talk to you guys, teach you a few things. If you got questions, which I'm sure you do, ask 'em now. "

The warehouse was quiet and all that can be heard is the echo of my voice. Faith looked at me with a sense of worry. She placed her hands behind her back as she lowered her head hiding behind her brown hair, laughing at me. A beat passes by and the girls share a look with each other as if they were telekinetic. They shared a look until it was passed down to the last girl. She looked at them, then at me, and then for a brief moment she stared at Faith. I glanced at Faith from the corner of my eye as faintly smiled at the girl. She slowly raised her hand and slowly she spoke.

"Dawn?"

I tried to remember her name, but I didn't have to because it was on her name chain, "Amy? You have a question?"

She put her hand down, "I know you told us that to be a slayer is our destiny and we can't change it, b-but... what is a vampire slayer exactly?"

It took me a moment. I had to explain to these girls the legend, the history of the slayers. I had to explain to them what my sister was. I had to explain what she did, and how she died. I had to explain that when I was their age, I couldn't do anything for myself. I had to explain why I wasn't a slayer, and why I didn't do anything special. I had five seconds to come up with a way to not cry. _I had to tell them._

As I began to part my lips to tell them how despicable I was, I felt a hand place on my shoulder. I felt a shock served through my spine, a feeling I haven't felt for almost seven years. "Don't worry D," she said with a soothing tone applied to her voice, "I got this. Go check on Jordan or something."

My jaw extended more, I wanted to say that I had this... But the truth was I didn't. I didn't know what to say. It was better for a true slayer to explain than for me to. I closed my mouth and nodded, agreeing that she was the right person for the job. I slowly made my way out of the boxing ring, but before I could she started to speak to them.

"To be a slayer," she started as I put one foot out of the rope, "means to be... a warrior. From the beginning of time there was mankind, nature and evil. Around that time, weird old African men realized that no one man can defeat evil. So they did their weird Voodoo thing, and realized they could put the power of a thousand men into one person. A girl preferably. Now this girl, since the beginning of time, would be taught the history and train and be watched over by a man named _the watcher. _Now... these girls lives didn't last long. Some didn't even make it passed 18. And When one died, another slayer was born."

Amy didn't understand. She interrupted, "I don't get it. Then how come there's so many of us? Slayers, I mean."

Faith hung her head, while she tried to find the right words. She tried to find the right way to explain what happened 9 years ago. She tried to explain Buffy. She looked back at me, she knew I was behind her. The girls looked at me too, trying to figure out what we were hiding. I crossed my arms and nodded, they wanted to know how they became what they are. They needed to know everything.

Faith turned back to them, and they focused their attention back to her.

"There was this girl," she paused, looking away from them, "Her name was Buffy and she was the greatest slayer of my generation. There were three slayers in my time. Buffy, but then she died. But she came back to life. When Buffy was dead for brief moments, Another slayer, named Kendra was created. & when she died, I was created. It was Buffy and I against the world. Buffy was a special girl, better than I was."

She smiled, but it came and then went. As the smiled vanished she looked at them, with glassy eyes. Her voice crumbled softly,

"About less than a decade ago, there was like this world war three. But more like War about the bad against all mankind. Buffy was so frustrated because there was no written record of how to stop something like that. The evil guy would take the physical image of everyone who had died. Believe me, we've seen a lot of people die. He even started taking out all of the potential slayers and we had to find them and to train them. Believe me when I say they were more annoying than any of you could be. They didn't have the power that Buffy and I possessed & at the last moment, Buffy came up with this idea that was so crazy. She knew two slayers of the whole world, they couldn't do this on their own. So what she did was, she went to her best friend who was an amazing witch. They did some magic spell to make all potential slayers, actual slayers. And the appocalypse... Well I'm pretty sure you guys know what happened."

"So you saved the world," one girl said.

"Nah," Faith responded slyly, "It was just another Wednesday to me."

I smiled, and tightly crossed my arms. As I began to walk away to look for Jordan, she cleared her throat and spoke as loud as she dared to.

"I-uh... I am not perfect. There were many times I went against Buffy. I did a lot of crazy crap."

I stopped midway but refused to turn around. I closed my eyes so I could concentrate on her voice.

"Sometimes I even tried to kill her. I was confused and I became the enemy. I was so hooked on having her life, that I forgot about what the real story was and that's to help the ones who can't help themselves. And on this road, you're gonna get mixed up in the crazy life. You're going to encounter a lot of girls who are going to be like what I used to be, confused. I don't want you to be like me. I don't want you to be unhappy with the choices you make. I want you to live like Buffy. I want you to live...for me."

I opened my eyes and tears started to crawl down my cheeks as I chewed the inside of my bottom lip. It was quiet and I can hear the door in the computer room close. I knew Faith was looking at me, hoping that I would turn around, but I refused to look at her. I refused to let her see me vulnerable. I cleared my throat and heard her clap her hands together. "Okay," she said in one sigh, "do you guys know Self defense?" It was quiet. She let out a mere snort, "I feel bad, because that shit won't do you any good."

I smiled softly as I walked to the back of the room. I wiped my eyes with my thumbs as discreetly as I could. Unfortunately, I failed at the discreet part.

"Hey, Dawn. Are you okay," Jordan asked as he came walking fast to me.

I cleared my throat again. "Oh yeah," I lied, "It's just allergies. You know how that goes."

"Yeah," he said slowly. At that moment I knew that he didn't believe me. "If you have a chance, can you come with me downstairs. There's something I think you should see."

When we headed downstairs I knew something was wrong. He kept looking at me, like he was trying to prevent saying something to me. But I thought I was high off of the emotions so I left it alone. While he logged onto his computer, I stared at his little portable tv he had and I began to watch the news.

Something suspicious was going on a little outside of Chicago. There were unique pot holes that seemed truly familiar too. If I didn't know any better I would think they looked like sunnydale.

"Okay," he said consciously. "Last night was freaky, right?"

"Way freaky," I replied.

"Okay so I checked everywhere around here," he said while he clicked his mouse and type a few words. "We _saw _the vampires, but we didn't see any of them crawl out, remember?"

"Mhmm," I moaned signaling him to keep going.

"So I had a theory that they didn't come from this part of town. So I checked all the different highschool's in chicago – Just so I can check the different neighborhoods. Now in Chicago there's three cemeteries, and one animal cemetery." I looked at him as if he was crazy. He caught my look and countered with a childish smile, "I had to check all the bases."

He began to click his mouse and keyboard once again and then stopped. "I checked all of the schools – even their newspapers about any deaths, and there weren't any... Except one - but he had cancer so I'm sure we could rule that out! Then I had to look through all of the autopsies in Illinois for the past week see about anyone being drained of their blood and still there was nothing funny." He stopped. He looked at me and took a deep breath.

My eyebrows bridged together as I tried to read his face. "What Jordan?"

"When I went to check if there was something funny _outside _of Illinois, I found a lot of things but one place came up particularly mysterious. So I made a chart, so you could take a look for yourself."

I parted my lips to ask him where. I wanted him to cut this expense crap, and just tell me. He clicked his mouse and typed into his computer one more time. He moved a few inches away from the computer so I could lean over into it and looked at the map that he had put onto the screen. "I hope you were good in social studies," he joked insecurely as he pressed enter on the keyboard.

Red dots appeared on the screen. As they populated places, they populated places like where Sunnydale used to be. But as they populated more near chicago, my heart dropped.

This couldn't be right. Out of all places, they shouldn't be coming from the least expected place.

"Is this accurate," I asked with a demanding tone through my teeth.

He took a deep breath, trying not to answer my question.

"Jordan, God Dammit! I asked you a question!"

He jumped, afraid of my tone, he answered immediately. "15 minutes accurate!"

I busted out of the room and went up stairs. I walked as fast as I could to Faith. Oblivious to what was going on, she spoke to me with a smile on her face.

"Hey, D," she said Slyly. "These girls are bad ass. You got a group on you."

I stared sternly into her eyes, hoping she would take what I had to say calmly.

Her smile vanished as she read my face, "What's wrong? What do you know?"

"Cleavland," I said as my voice shook, "they are coming from Cleveland."

Her eyebrows burrowed together. She shook her head, " There's something you're not telling me. I dont get it. Why are they coming into Chicago, Dawn?"

I licked my lips and continued, "You need to go back. I know you're smart, Faith. So I know you have a hidden location. You need to protect Giles. He knows too much. I'll be there within the month."

She rolled her eyes and impatiently she spoke, "Why are they coming here, Dawn?"

I didn't want to tell her the truth. But I felt it was inevitable. It was do or die, and if I didn't plan this right we would die faster than we could do. My breath became uneven.

"They're coming for me."


	5. Chapter 5

As fast as Faith came, she went.

A drifter among many names I remember her by but even though it had been years since this encounter, Faith's disappearance still left an after taste in my mouth – A mere lingering feeling. The girls looked at me with young and amateur stares, trying to pry into my head and my thoughts to figure what was going on. Only if they knew that what they wish they can do, I have succeeded in training. But their faces spoke truth, they didn't need brain power to understand. Something _was_ wrong. Watching Faith flee before their eyes was a red flag to them. They didn't know that this was what Faith was known for. This was her signature.

They spoke among themselves as Jordan tried to speak to me. He knows knows the secret I keep to myself. He knows about the pain my mind goes under when I'm stressed. He knows that I've tried to control the sensitive part of my mind. The echo of their thoughts coming out of their mouths before it even does. The bouncing of their words, jumping of one wall into my head out to the next and back into my mind. No one should have to do this. No one should hear anyone's thoughts. _EVER._

"What do you think is happening," Amy tried to discretely asked another girl named Astrid. They gathered in a corner speaking as only high school girls do. The pale skinned girl crossed her arms against her body, unsure. She impatiently let them drop to play with the string on her sweatpants. You could see the lines on her face become more visible. It didn't take much but a profiler to know her thoughts were growing rapidly about death.

"I don't know, but if that slayer left, I'm thinking it's pretty horrible," Astride said. She bit her cuticles of her fingernails trying to trim them down.

The conversation skipped a beat. The echoes of their thoughts surrounded them, swelling my brain with foreign information I didn't need at all. I clenched my jaw trying to suppress the pain I was encountering.

"Do you think another apocalypse is happening? Should we go hunting for vampires now?"

"It's daylight Amy, there aren't any vampires out here. But I don't think an apocalypse is happening, she wouldn't have trained us if there were."

"Astrid, what if she just found out! What if she's training us to kill it?" I moved my eyes almost an inch from the starting point to I could see their faces again. Her eyebrows moving closer together and away from her hairline. Her eyes became glossy and more bewildered as she tried to control her breathing. She medium length blonde hair back as she exhaled roughly.

"Who is she anyway," Astride said annoyed with the thought of me and what I was bringing them into. "I bet she's not a slayer. Faith was strong and Dawn isn't. She could be a Vampire, she never leaves here. At least I don't think she does."

"Shut up Astride," a girl said. I think her name was Jean. She was a tough one, she reminded me of Buffy and Cordelia mixed into one, some how. "You don't even know her. I know girls like you. You just like to gossip."

"I'm not gossiping, Jean," Astride replied with a pout on her face. Astrid seemed articulate for a girl her age. "I'm just saying with the way she holds herself, she looks like she doesn't get sleep. There's bags underneath her eyes, and she looks like a mess. It's not gossiping, It's making an observation."

The girls continued to bicker with each other, reminding me of the potentials that were my age. I tried to avoid listening to more, but it seemed inevitable. Jordan snapped his fingers in my face one more time. He finally caught my attention.

Thank god.

Filled with apprehension, he delicately said my name. I batted my eyes to retrieve me out of the trance that I found myself in. My eyes met his, and saw them dilate slowly. They started to slowly change from one tone of brown to a lighter one. "What are we going to do?"

In one beat I looked at them and then to Jordan, not wanting to leave them the way I was going to. My opinion was that it's for the best. I placed one hand on my hip and the other on my head as I tried to sort out the facts in my mind.

I closed my eyes and let out one frustrated grunt. "We're going to have to head up to Cleveland in a couple of days. That's only if they haven't found us yet. You need to start packing tonight. Pack everything – all the electronics. Take whatever hard drives you need and crash everything else. You're going to have to live out of your laptop for the next week or two. I told Faith we'd be there in a month, but things seem wrong. Something doesn't feel right."

I opened my eyes when he nodded in agreement, ready to take action. His eyes snapped to the group of girls and reluctantly met mine once again. "What about the girls? What are we going to do?"

I looked over my shoulder one more time. Just to look at them because I wanted to. I parted my lips and slowly I said, "Leave them. I just hope they'll be fine. I can't let them know where I'm going. This is for the best. To protect them."

"I understand," he replied sternly.

I walked away from and changed my face, pretending things were okay. I stepped inside of the ring and clapped my hands together. They attempted to walk into a lined formation when I put my hand up. "Stop. You don't have to do that anymore." They all looked at each other.

If they didn't know that something was wrong, then they knew now.

"Dawn," Jean said. She took one step forward from the girls and put a brave face. "We know something is wrong. What is it?"

I smiled faintly, "Don't worry. It's nothing that you should be worried about." They looked at me as if I told them a lie.

They're smart girls. I was lying.

"Today's lesson is over. Tomorrow you come in and I'll teach you some meditation and fighting procedures."

The rest of the girls walked to the corner of the ring to grab their things but Amy didn't. She looked at me like a little kid watching one of their parents walking out on them would. I clenched my jaw once again, trying not to let any sort of emotion seep through my eyes or mouth. Her eyes locked with mine, and like she did some sort of magick spell on me, I couldn't look away. "You promise?"

I couldn't promise. I didn't know what was going to happen, but I knew it would be soon. I couldn't let tragedy and death devour these girls as it once did for my sister and I. I couldn't look her in the eye and promise things that I had no control over. My face didn't move, though I wanted to tell them everything, I didn't. "I'll see you tomorrow, Girls."

Amy was the last one to grab her things. I looked at her as she did. One corner of her mouth raised up as she left the warehouse, closing the door behind her.

The door clicked closed.

I let out a long awaited exhaled knowing that I was alone. I looked around the warehouse and examined the emptiness of the place. I walked around the ring in a circle swinging my arms back and forth. My cheeks puffed out as I blew air out of them. I stopped in the middle of the ring and and sat down in an Indian position. I moved around in my place trying to find comfort as I brushed my hair back and closed my eyes.

I raised my chin a little bit and tried to meditate. I opened my eyes one more time to view the dark orange color of the sun going down. I cleared my throat and closed my eyes once again trying to find my minds eye.

Five years ago, when I bought this warehouse I thought it held mysterious powers. I saw things in my sleep, which eventually prevented me from sleeping. Sometimes it would be the past, and how things happened. I would remember people that I normally wouldn't remember consciously. This... _thing_ that happened to me would allow me to see things at the same time, in a different place but only from a small mile radius. Sometimes when I do get to sleep I would see Giles, getting older and saying things to me as if he were really here.

I thought that out of the scooby gang, I was the only normal one but when I was forced to be alone, I became a bigger freak than ever.

It's hard sometimes. Sometimes I forget to breathe, I forget that my life isn't dark and I have to open my eyes to see the light. But this time, when I opened my eyes it was in fact dark. I saw the shine of a flashlight moving from left to right.

"Dawn," Jordan screamed. His voice echoed as he was the one moving the flashlight back and forth.

When I looked around myself I realized that it was in fact dark. Inside and outside. I stood up and patted the back of my pants from the dirt. "I'm in the ring," I announced.

He walked into the ring and shines the light onto me, making sure it was me. "Where the hell have you been? I've been calling you for like an hour"

I placed my hands in my back pockets insecurely like I would when Buffy scolded me. "Don't be dramatic, Jordan. I didn't even hear you call my name." I grabbed the flashlight and shined it around the area. "Why are the lights out?"

"I don't know," he said evenly. "I checked the light box. Dawn, the wires were chewed out."

My heart dropped.

They were here.

They knew where we were and I didn't even feel them come. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate. Pass Jordan breathing, I heard steps like a little child trying to see his presents on Christmas day. They reminded me of inconsistent water drops falling from a leaky faucet. I heard them all around the warehouse. I knew there wasn't only one.

I grabbed Jordan by his collar and whispered hard in his ear, "Get your shit and meet me at the bus station. If you don't see me by the time the next bus gets there, go to Cleveland and find them. Take the back way."

With no words he ran out of the ring and to the room. I heard the door slam shut. Then as I tried to concentrate on the intruder, I realized the footsteps had stopped. I tried to feel around me, trying to feel the draft of the air change. But there was no change.

Suddenly, the lights above me started to turn on. I looked up looking at the flickering light, and wondered how it was doing that. I can feel my eyebrows moving away from my hair line and being pissed off second by second.

A familiar deep demonic laugh surfaced in front of the ring. I can feel my forehead relax and frantically, I walked to the edge of the ring, holding the ropes.

A black blur began to fade into my sight. His appearance began to become more clear. He stood just as tall as me with a velvet red robe draped around him. His horns seemed curved into some golden spiral.

If I didn't know any better, he looked like...

"Dawn Summers," he belted out. "It has been a while. I am so glad to see you."

"Yeah," I said sarcastically. "I wish I could say the same."

He laughed again, like a monarch to a kingdom. "Now, I wouldn't say that to the man who will soon be killing you."

"I wouldn't say you are anything equivalent to what a man would be."

"There's been word that you have met my minions," he said coldly after a a beat of silence passed.

"Yes, well they were easy to beat. I figure this will be an easy task."

He chuckled loudly while I did nothing but stare at this blurred vision of him. "That's because you have only fought a prototype. Remember, the prophecy is near. They will become more stronger and deadlier as the days come by."

"Are you trying to kill me," I asked with a stern look painted over my face hiding a heart of fear. I grabbed the ropes a little tighter.

He paused. It seemed like he was thinking about my question. Or thinking of ways to torture me.

"No." he simply responded.

I let my grip go.

"Consider this a game. Though I know that I will indeed win, I want to play. I'll think of you as my little lab rat in a cage." He smiled at me but my face didn't move. "I'll be in touch with you. When you and your colony of people will die, you will know. Just remember that the prophecy is indeed in affect."

Before I could part my lips to ask questions the blurred vision of the monster disappeared. Like if he were some kind of glitch in the matrix. Moments after he disappeared the warehouse lights started to turn on one by one. I tucked hair behind my ear and ran into the back room.

Buffy taught me one thing: When you know you're going to be killed, you run. No matter how far it is, you run. That's exactly what I planned on doing.

I tore that room apart grabbing everything I could. I grabbed the two duffel bags that I had underneath my couch and packed them until I couldn't anymore. One with books and one with clothes. I didn't have much so I took what I needed.

I ran to the war room to grab any weapons that I could. The smaller and more portable, the better. I can feel my heart beating out my chest as water started to form in the corners of my eyes. My breathing became uneven and my body began to shake. I didn't know what I was doing, and to be honest I never did. The anger inside built up like a fire burning. I grabbed a chair and threw it at the wall, watching it break into pieces.

I stared at the wall saying and doing nothing.

It was quiet.

For once the place was quiet inside my mind and outside of myself. I grabbed my supplies and put them on the table near me. I inhaled as calmly as I could, but before I could exhale I collapsed on the floor crying as much as I could. Savagely I moved my hair out of my face and rocked back and forth.

I needed Buffy more than I led on. She was my support system. Buffy knew more than I could ever in my lifetime. I couldn't become her. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't be the person I wanted to be. Because she died. And I was nothing but some loser that didn't know what she was getting herself into. I wanted to run to my mother and Buffy but I couldn't. I was the only one left. I promised I would live for them both, but I never knew how hard living would be.

As I laid on the floor with my eyes closed I heard a voice in my head. This time something different. I _felt _someone give me strength. I _heard _them tell me as clear as day that I could do this. I could do this for my sister and my mother. I suddenly didn't need to cry anymore. I wiped my eyes and sniffled as I stood up. I took a deep breath and grabbed the bags of weapons.

I grabbed my green army jacket and the other two bags I had. I felt what I hadn't felt in so long...

...Strong.

It was time to fuck shit up.

XX

When I reached the bus station, the bus to Cleveland had just left. I smiled, knowing that Jordan was safe, but as the bus departed from its station I threw my words away. He sat there like a little lonely boy on a bench that I knew he was. Staring at the ground as people walked passed him. I smiled and walked casually to him.

"Hey stranger," I said slyly. He looked up at me and smiled the brightest smile I ever saw him smile. "I thought I told you to get on this bus that just passed?"

He looked at me with nothing but ease in his eyes. He spoke with sincerity, "I thought it was time someone waited for you."

With no words I smiled at him. I sat on the bench next to him and waited for the next bus.

XX

A couple of hours and a few movies later we arrived in Cleveland. I hailed a cab and pulled out an old Christmas card of Giles I had. I gave the driver this address hoping he still lived there. When the driver pulled up I knew that he indeed did live here.

The cab left when Jordan and I pulled everything out.

"How do you know he still lives here," Jordan asked carrying as much as he did for the front door.

"Because," I said putting down my bags. Jordan walked toward me with a curious look on his face. I walked to his mailbox and pointed to the latin inscription on it. "He's the only librarian I know that would do that. It means 'All kindred spirits welcomed.'"

His mouth formed an O shape as I picked up my bags and move them to the front door. "Should we knock," Jordan asked.

I chuckled and started to look around me. If that demon man found me, I had to take precautions to make sure they didn't find them. I found a fake rock that Giles had even when he lived in Sunnydale. I opened it up and took the key out and opened the door. I walked in, leaving my things outside with Jordan watching my things.

I creeped around the house looking at the things he had, but more for him. It was just like Giles to have an extensive collection of Latin books in his living room. His house had the feel of a cottage.

Warm and cozy.

It felt like... _home._

I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate to hear anything possible. I heard closely an echo of faiths voice. I followed it to their small kitchen.

"What do you mean the prophecy is near," he asked her with his agitated voice that only Giles could perfect. They stood near a table with red and white checkered table cloth on it which Faith leaned on as she looked at him uninterestedly.

"Yeah. That's what they'll always say when the moon is full. They turn into mega vamps and I can't kill them with a stake."

"Well Faith, that would have been a sodding good thing to tell me last month."

I stepped forward, making myself known. Faith parted her lips to speak to Giles when she noticed me. She straightened up her posture and held a smile. "D," she said with a surprised tone. She walked toward me and gave me a tight hug.

As she walked toward me, I saw Giles slowly turn to me. She embraced me in a tight hug and let go in seconds. She placed her arm around me as I stared into Giles' eyes. He took his glasses off and gave me a welcoming smile.

"Hello Dawn," he said in a low tone. It was like I was finally being welcomed home after being in the service.

I looked up to this man. He was the father I never had. I felt the corner of my mouth raise uncontrollably. I let a soft breath out.

"Hello Giles."


	6. Chapter 6

I don't think I was ever one for small talk. My sister had the better skill for communication because she was very sociable. I only sat there with my chin laying dully on my tantrum-filled arms on the table while she and her friends shared their dilemmas. I was very awkward around them when I was a kid and just looking at Giles just brings me back to those childlike times.

Upon arriving here, it felt like he put me in a hypnotic trance bringing out the seventeen year old I once was. After Faith hugged me, which I had never seen her do before, he just stared at me. Like he was looking at a prized jewel. He took off his glasses about three times while I walked through the door. Faith asked if I was hungry, which once again was something I never heard her say ever. Fifteen minutes passed by and Giles did nothing but stare at me.

The crackling sounds of the cinders flying in the fireplace, as the warmth of the wood burning filled us, was the only sound that was audible. The pace and sound of here was different than the warehouse, which was something I could get used to.

His cottage had this very cozy feeling that reminded me of his other place back in Sunnydale or even the magic box. When walking in, the first things you could see are pictures of the Scooby Gang and of course Faith. It felt like everyone had been here but me. Giles was like the father I already had, but wished he was anyway. Being away from him and the rest of the gang was something I didn't want to do but I knew I had to. I just hoped he knew that.

We sat sat down in the kitchen on this beautifully finished oak table. Giles had poured himself some tea from the third pot that he had made. I was not one for tea, but it was better than the water I was drinking. Still the tea had a peculiar taste so I just played with the first cup I had. He sat down in the chair leaning against his yellow colored wall and crossed his leg over the other one like a man would. He blew on his cup of tea while I leaned over onto the table like I did when I was younger, crossing my arms and laying my chin on top of them.

Curiously, I looked at Giles. I examined the aged lines that were imprinted on his face and his salt and pepper hair. I glanced at Faith as she bounced her eyes from him to me, like it was a tennis match, anxiously waiting for one of us to speak. I licked my lips and slowly sat up straight up causing a chain reaction with them moving tensely in theirs. I cleared my throat while Giles put his cup down.

"So." I said extending the O's uncomfortably as this was the only ice breaker I could think of.

"Ah yes." He responded back in that foreign accent of his fixing his glasses for the fourth time tonight. "I'm sorry for being a rude host."

"No. You've been more than helpful, Giles" I said almost running his sentence over verbally with mine. Faith smiled as she chewed on her fingernail. I pursed my lips and slouched a bit.

I knew I wasn't good at small talk.

"So how have you been?"

But I can tell Giles wasn't an expert either.

"Oh." I started. I can hear my voice becoming increasingly squeaky. "Good... You?"

"The same." His voice imitated mine slightly as his increased too. "Anything new?"

"Not, not anything interesting... You?"

"The same..."

"Oh god." Faith slammed her hands, palm faced flat down as she spoke in one exasperated breath. She bent her elbows, leveling her eyes with them. "And I thought slayers were anti-social! Can we just get to the good stuff. Jeez!"

The corners of my mouth shyly raised, showing my front two teeth. Giles' cheeks burned a glowing red.

"I didn't want to be rude," I said meekly.

"Neither, neither did I. I was trying to be a good host." He stammered through almost every word.

His shoulders relaxed as I let out a long breath.

I moved my cup around the table as the cinders cracking became audible again. I stared at Faith as she placed her head in her hand supporting it with her elbow on the table. I fingered the hole in the handle and pursed my lips again. I directed my sight to Giles noticing that he seemed pretty calm for a prophecy waiting to occur.

I tilted my head and looked back at Faith. "Does he know?"

Her eyebrows rose for a second. I don't think she understood what I was referring to until she thought about it. "Oh! No. He doesn't."

Giles straightened up in his seat, "What don't I know?"

"Are you going to tell him." I ignored his question because I didn't want to blow Faith's spot.

"Tell me what?" He tried to intervene but Faith did just as I.

"No. I was going to tell him tomorrow. I didn't think you would be coming tonight. I thought I had a month."

"Yeah, well I don't think we have that long after what happened tonight?"

Faith leaned closer, concerned. "What happened tonight?"

"Faith Lehane and Dawn Summers," Giles said successfully interrupting us. He took off his glasses. We then knew that this was serious. "What don't I know?"

"Well." Faith started. She moved around in her seat. "You know about the prophecy."

"Yes, I'm very well aware of what is coming." He placed his glasses back on his face. She looked at me and I pursed my lips again. I picked up where she left off.

"...I have a very good idea that their army is coming from here. I think they found the _other _hell-mouth."

Giles took it all in. He gaped at us then proceeded to take a sip of his tea. Faith placed her hand on my forearm and spoke with such a tender voice. "Now what happened tonight?"

I moved a bit in my seat tensely. "Well... I don't know. Weird stuff has been happening to me, even when you were there. Like... time jumps. When you left I told the girls to go home and it was daylight. I started to meditate and the next thing I knew, it's pitch black outside and there's no light inside of the warehouse." Giles stood up and walked around the kitchen rubbing his chin, frustrated. Faith watch as he got up but then directed her attention onto me. I swallowed hard and continued to talk. "He showed up. In the warehouse. He had me and Jordan completely cornered and and he could have killed us- me because I told Jordan to run. I couldn't quite see what he looked like because he looked like a black blur. But I felt like I knew him. Don't quote me on this but... I think it was D'hoffryn."

Giles looked over his shoulder at me. Faith looked up at Giles with a worried look. "D'hoffryn? Well no that can't be. He was obliterated when the hell-mouth closed in Sunnydale."

"Yeah, well. Did you see it with your own eyes?" Faith said flatly.

Giles began to rub his chin again as Faith stood up. She flattened her pants with her hands and then they trailed onto her hips. "What else did he tell you?"

"He said that the Vampire you dusted was just a prototype. He kept going on about a game. He knows he'll win. I'm thinking he's right, because somethings different this time. Buffy's not here anymore."

Faith looked down, hurt. I didn't want to say it, but she knew very well that it was true. Giles looked away thinking that this might be, in fact, _the end of the world._

Giles had a big cottage, which meant he had beautiful wooden floors. They weren't good for my ears because I know I could hear everything. Jordan had set up in the basement downstairs because he was comfortable that way. I felt his presence coming toward me. The inconsistency of the steps tld me that he didn't want to interrupt anything. By reflex, I turned around looking at the doorway waiting for him to show up.

"Jordan." I said sweetly. I didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable in any way. He walked into the room with an insecure look. I knew this didn't feel like home to him, but he was being a very good sport.

His eyes look past me. "Am I interrupting anything?"

I follow his eyes and turn around to see Giles starring at me.

I think he knows I'm defected in some way.

"N-No, Jordan. You're not. Is there something wrong?"

He walked closer to me and sighed. "With me? No. With this City? Oh yeah."

We followed him to the basement where he had set up his laptops and other computers Giles reluctantly gave him. Underneath the stairs he had everything set up. He grabbed his chair and rolled it to his computers. He looked at Faith and Giles and swallowed uncomfortably. He looked at me with a look like _is it okay to trust them?_

"It's okay Jordan. You can trust them." I smiled quickly, anxious about the news he had.

Firmly he nodded. "Okay." He looked into one of his laptops and began typing and clicking his mouse. "I did what I usually do; I checked all the morgues and high school newsletters because vampires and warlocks like to go for the vulnerable. I had some alright stuff with both but nothing jaw dropping. So then I hacked into the Police's database and caught a bunch of things that sounds didn't make sense. There's a _Serial Killer _on the loose and he goes around draining blood out of his victims–"

"Yes, I heard about that." Giles intervened. He played with his glasses as he continued, "I didn't think there was any mystical influences on that case. They found the murderer for that case. I thought it was one of those kids wanting to be a vampire."

"They found _a _murderer for that case, but it wasn't necessarily the murderer for that case."

"You're not making any sense here, Kid." Faith crossed her arms as her eyebrows furrowed lowly.

He looked at me for reassurance and I gave him exactly that. "In my time being alone, I've realized that nothing is ever as simple as it's supposed to be. Although we're dealing with vampires, we're also dealing with warlocks who could or couldn't be D'hoffryn."

"But how do we know that this case involves our super freaky?"

Jordan turned back to the computer and pulled up a bunch of photos and articles. "Here are a bunch of news reports from 12 different states and one of them being from Chicago. They all talk about how a killer was on the loose attacking others, draining their blood. Then about two weeks each time, the killer dies the same way. So I did a little snooping, zooming through stuff finding school reports and other things like that. I found out that all of the victims/murderers are all under the age of 17. And they

all have something in common."

He clicks on a picture and zooms in a couple of times. Giles squints his eyes as he leans closer to the computer. Tattooed on the victims neck near the wound is a phrase in another language. _η__προφητεία είναι κοντά. _

"That's Greek, If I'm not mistaken." Giles has said unsure.

Jordan smiled. "Yeah it is. You know what it means?"

"Well, I don't." Faith said annoyed. "So tell me."

Jordan smiled even bigger. "It means 'The Prophecy is Near.'"

I didn't understand any of this. Why was he getting kids to do this? Why were kids doing this so willingly? "Jordan?" I had a theory but I just didn't want to say it out loud.

"Yeah Dawn?"

"What was the date on the article from Chicago?"

He turned to his computer and clicked his mouse a couple of times. "7 Years ago. Why?"

I clenched my jaw and inhaled as calmly as I could. I know I'm crazy sometimes, and I don't make sense most of the time. But something was telling me – no, YELLING at me that who ever was torturing me was the reason my sister wasn't here anymore. But I couldn't tell them anything. No, they would just push me away and say they can handle it on their own. And If I was right, I wanted revenge more than any of them. So I lied. "Nothing. I thought it would give me something but nothing."

He made an O shape with his mouth. He cleared his throat and parted his lips and then closed them.

"What is it, Kid?"

"Well I found something else."

"Well," Faith said rudely, "Spill it!"

He looked at me worried before he turned back to his computer. He clicked a few things and then looked back to us. "I tried to look for occurrences. Fimilar things. Every one, the killers and victims, all died downtown their city. If that isn't common enough they all are found dead near their city's biggest high-school. I found that weird because none of them went to the same schools, or had common friends. So I looked at the blueprints and schematics of the schools." He clicked something again. Upon the screen were flashing blueprints that too complex for it to be a school. "These are all of the 12 blueprints from the cities. And I've been trying to break this code for about an hour or two. They don't make one bit of sense. I was hoping one of you could understand it better than me."

Faith blew out of her mouth making her lips flap. "Don't look at me. I dropped out junior year."

I smiled, "I didn't make it to sophomore year."

"I may have expertise in many areas of education, but this is one area I do not think I will suffice."

"So what do we do?" Jordan asked innocently.

"The only thing we can do." he said.

My heart started to beat almost out of its ribcage. I practiced to control my breathing because I really hoped Giles would not say one thing I knew he would have to. In the matters of life and death, he would have to. In the matters of my life and death...

"We have to get Xander..."

I just hoped he wouldn't say it.

But he did.


	7. Chapter 7

It was three in the morning and we were on a train to New Jersey. I can tell Giles and Faith were in deep concentration, probably about the prophecy. Jordan stayed looking for more information at the house, but I wish he had came with me instead. I sat here helplessly thinking of useless things I wouldn't need. Like, why did trains run at three in the morning? Or how fast could they actually travel? Or what was the name of the driver or why the word caboose was another word for a person's behind. The thoughts of trains felt totally useless to me.

I think my subconscious was trying to come up with things to talk about to compensate for the loud screaming my heart was making. In the past three days I have taken a lot in, including Giles and Faith and this whole end of the world thing. Everything that's surrounding this ordeal just feels so different. When I was a kid, I would listen to the speeches and do what I was told. Then, I'd worry about the end of the world but I knew it really wouldn't be. Then, I had a mother and a Sister. Then, I had a family. The only difference about now is that I'm in the drivers seat. I'm the one whose taking this all in my hands. _I'm the one whose responsible. _

I turned my head to the other side of the train to see Faith looking out of the window. I think she thought the same thing that I did; how were we supposed to defeat this with no real strategy. I think she felt my eyes on her when she turned to me. She gave me a shabby smile and then looked back out the window. Giles sat two seats away from her, consulting his books. I haven't been around him in seven years and he still seems the same.

I banged my head against the back of the chair and let out a big breath. I can feel my throat vibrating nervously. I cleared my throat because I knew if I didn't it would crack. "Why couldn't we just call?" I didn't want to sound whinny. I tried to not put too much attention on myself.

"Oh you know us," Faith said flatly, "we never do things the easy way."

Giles let out a quick smile as he closed his book. "Besides, Faith hasn't seen him in seven years, and I haven't seen him in five. I also think it would be nice for him to see you. You _were _like a sister to him."

I gritted my teeth muttering underneath my breath, "...Don't remind me."

Faith turned to me all the while not disconnecting her head from the window glass. The corner of Faith's mouth rose up almost like a snarl, "Why are you–" She stopped herself. She jerked forward in a quick motion as she grinned deviously. "I remember now! When you were a kid you had a huge crush on Xander!"

My heart dropped.

I tried to cover it up with rolling my eyes and staring out the window. "That's not true."

"Yes you did! You used to totally drool over him like piece of meat!" She said while she stood up and scooted passed Giles and onto the seat next to me like an over zealous teenager.

"That's not true, Faith." I said as dryly as I could. I tried to not look at her but even with that, she wouldn't give it up.

She chuckled as she pointed at me. "I remember you had this notebook and inside it said _Mrs. Harris. Mrs. Dawn Harris–_"

"YesIHadACrushOnHim!" I snapped. I confessed now than her screaming it in front of him, something I had wished he forgotten. Just as I snapped my head had sunk into my shoulders like a turtle in fear. She still had that ridiculous smile on her face. I can hear my voice softening with each syllable. "I'm nervous, okay? So can we just drop it?"

She moved around and sat in the seat next to me quietly still with what seemed like a permanent smile on her face. I looked back out the window trying to control my anger and anticipation to get this over with.

I glanced at her to see she was still smiling. She parted her lips, "You know... you shouldn't be so nervous. You know he'd be happy to see you."

I felt the blood go all the way to my cheeks while I tried to fight a smile from sitting on my face. I turned to her and looked at the ground momentarily before I looked into her hazel brown eyes. "You think so?"

She softly attached the back of her head to the seat and chuckled again. "Yeah with those melons stapled onto your chest, I think he'd be thrilled."

XX

Hoboken. If this wasn't a reincarnation of Sunnydale then I don't know what is. The walk from the train to wherever we were going was a long and difficult destination. The dark covered this city very well and made it hard to see without the street lights. Giles thought it would be very manly to walk in front of Faith and I a couple of times until he would hear a cat jumping out of a trash can, then in that case Faith would walk in front of us. I could only suspect that this place looked as dark and demonic as it did only because it was nightfall. Giles then explained to me that this was New Jersey. Hellmouth or no Hellmouth.

We walked for maybe an hour until we stood in front of what seemed like a hotel. At least that's the only way I could put it. Giles made us wait until he could speak to the guard protecting the door. With my sensitive hearing, he told the guard that we were family and that he should be expecting us and not to call him because it was late. Giles then gave us the signal that we could come in and we did.

Walking into the elevator was fine, but with each ding of each floor passing by it felt like someone was preventing me from breathing. Faith looked at the numbers glowing one by one and then looked at me. "D, you need to calm down. You're freaking me out."

The door opened and Giles went out first. We followed him as he was the only one who knew where he had lived.

6B.

Giles knocked on the door as Faith leaned on the frame of it. I stood behind Giles trying to breathe the correct way.

We waited.

Giles knocked again.

We continued to wait.

Giles almost knocked a third time before he heard some shuffling inside.

"I heard you the first time!" I heard someone say, sounding like we interrupted a good dream.

I heard the sound of one lock and then the sound of the other. Slowly, the door opened and there he was.

Xander Harris.

He opened the door slightly and peeked his head to see who it was. "Giles!" He said rubbing his only visible eye. He opened the door a little bit more. "What did I tell you about these Late Night Calls? You have to buy me dinner first."

Giles chuckled, "Ah yes." he played with his glasses and then continued. "I am terribly sorry for not calling you. But you see, this is urgent. May we come in?"

He nodded but then froze. "Wait, _we?_" He opened the door all the way exposing him in his bathrobe and saw Faith leaning there. He turned away and under his breath he muttered. "Oh boy, this is like junior year all over again."

"We uh also have a surprise for you." Faith said while she walked in. I saw him stare at Giles as Giles walked passed him as well leaving me the only one in the hallway. I looked down afraid to see his face.

"Dawn," he almost said in a whisper. I looked up very carefully because I knew that somehow I would end up falling on the ground before I entered his house. As I looked up his eyes locked with mine, binding me in some sort of spell which I didn't mind to be in.

The corners of my mouth raised as I spoke. "Hello, Xander."

It was silent between us both and without breaking eye contact I can see Faith and Giles smiling behind him. I waited for him to speak, something I waited for almost seven years. His arms slapped to his side as he gaped at me.

"... You forgot to write." He said softly before he coughed out a nervous chuckle.

I looked down for a moment to catch my breath and then back up. I parted my lips but before I could speak I heard Faith clear her throat He and I both looked at her.

"We have to get to Cleveland before sunrise, y'know."

"Oh right!" He said abruptly. He then proceeded to look at me and once again no words were shared. I don't think he noticed that I was still outside in the hallway, so he continued to stare.

My head slowly lowered keeping eye contact with him, waiting for him to move to the side. His head followed mine, oblivious as to what I wanted.

"Can I come in?" I didn't want to sound rude, but Xander was never the brightest nail in the tool box.

Embarrassed, he moved to the side and I entered his humble abode. Along with Faith and Giles I sat in the dinning room. He closed and locked his door as he walked to us. Silence covered the room almost as if it were a velvet rope, all of us trying to get a word in. The glow on Giles' face glimmered with a red, as he and I tried to avoid Xander in this little mini robe that he was wearing.

Faith sucked her teeth as she looked at him with a disgusted look.. "So you uh, gonna put some pants on there, buddy?"

I can only describe this as a shock, because it seemed like he was loose in the head tonight. Yes, we did wake him up from what could be a wondrous sleep but something tonight seems off. Could it be me? A part of me wishes he wouldn't act so weird around me, but another piece of me is more than happy that this is how he's acting around me.

I turned my head to look at him and smiled as he backed out of the room slowly, only embarrassing himself more. As he went off into his room, I can feel Faith's eyes and smile on me. But I didn't care. My heart raced irregularly upon arriving here, something I didn't feel since high school. But when his eyes locked with mine, everything felt like it should have been – peaceful.

He came back into the room and all I could do is stare. He glanced by me and shot his eyes somewhere else, surprised that I was even looking at him. I saw him take the seat across from me, sitting next to Giles. It's amazing how his face seemed as perfect as the day I left him. The way he talks, the way he jokes – just everything was right like it should have been.

"So why come all the way to Jersey for a night cap." He said clapping his hands together. I looked at Faith looking at Giles.

"Well we," he bent over grabbing his leather suitcase and pulling out blueprints Jordan printed for him. "We need your help, being that you still are a contractor."

"Wella, I dabble a bit here and there."

"Good. Then you could read this crap." Faith said Flatly putting her feet on the next vacant chair.

Giles and Xander stood up, unraveling the prints and studying hard. Faith and I just looked at each other, letting the _boys _do their work. I watched as Xander's jaw clenched.

"This isn't right." He said.

"How so" Giles replied almost immediately.

He touched his lips with his fingers, lost in thought. He blinked his eyes and then looked at Giles and grunted, "These blueprints are on-top of each other. Like there's something below this. And something below that and so forth."

"Is there any way to isolate each of those blueprints?"

"Yeah any computer wiz can do that with their computer nowadays."

"I can get Jordan to do that," I said trying to intervene in the conversation. I just wanted him to hear my voice again.

He and Giles looked up at me. "You sure he can handle something like this?" Giles pushed up his glasses and Xander curiously just looked at me.

"Well I've known him for a long time and he's done things more complicated than this."

He squared his shoulders. "Whose Jordan?"

"That's her _friend"_ Faith said with a smirk on her face.

My ears burned hot. "No he's not! Well, he is my friend but he's not my _friend._"

He made an O shape with his mouth.

Suddenly the door slammed shut and I heard it lock. Everyone looked at each other while Xander just put his hung down lowly.

"You live with someone?" Faith sang. I think she was just as surprised as we were.

The footsteps were hard and cold walking slowly to the diner. They wrestled with their jacket and threw it on the couch that was located across from the dinning room.

Faith jolted up as her eyebrows rose. She pointed to the jacket. "Is that who I think it is?"

He tipped forward, "See about that..."

Then at that moment no words were shared. The deep footsteps became louder as they creeped into the room.

He stopped, looking at us and then looking back. He pointed his thumb behind him, "Did I go back in time?"

His heavy accent coming to life made my spine shiver in many ways. He ran his fingers through his ultra blonde hair and clenched his jaw. "Well am I in one of those universes where I don't exist? Am I dead?"

The corners of my mouth raised almost immediately. "Hi Spike."

"Hey Dawn. So can anyone tell– " He stopped himself. He took a long look at me and smiled. "Well I'll be damned. Dawn-Bloody-Summers. I thought you died way back. No one knew where you were."

I pooched my lips out, "Yeah well, here I am."

He took out a cigarette and lit it while keeping his eyes on me. He inhaled and blew the smoke to the side. He put his hands in front of him. "I like what you did there. Are those real?"

I rolled my eyes as I lurched to the side. Faith intervened, "Alright, Spike. Why don't you tell us why you're here... and not dead."

He inhaled the cigarette again. "Well for the dead part, my soul lingered around a couple of times until somehow it found my body. And as for why I'm here ask your buddy over there why I'm in his apartment."

We all turned to Xander who still had his head down the whole entire time. Faith took one step closer to him and put her hands on her hips, "How long he's been living with you, Xander."

He looked up at the ceiling recalling something, "Take away the hour, you've been here – Four years."

Giles and Faith growled and scowled Xander. His head sunk into his shoulders. "Why didn't you contact us," Giles said disappointed and upset.

"Because," he said protectively. "I thought everyone was out of the saving the world business!"

Spike pointed at us after he stuck a cigarette out his face, "Wait there's another apocalypse?"

"You should have told someone, Harris!" Faith punched him square in the shoulder.

"Ow! I bruise easily!"

"I don't think you heard me. Is there another apocalypse going on right now?"

"I would figure you would be the first to know," Faith snapped.

His eyebrows furrowed, "Whoa Whoa Whoa! What is that supposed to mean?"

She pushed Xander into Giles and walked to Spike with her finger on his chest. "It means that somehow when the weird and freaky happens, you're always behind it. You always know something and we never know until the day of the weird and freaky!"

He slapped her hand away, "Well if you must know I have a reputation with the down under now. Since I helped you in the last apocalypse they feel I'm not trust worthy... Which is fine by me, because I ride alone!"

"Yes. That is why you live with Xander." Faith laughed at Giles' remark.

"Well I'm sorry I didn't come looking for you, Prince Charles! Although I did and you went off the radar."

Although this was amusing to me, I thought it should have been stopped. I walked inbetween Spike and Faith pushing them away. Faith walked back to Giles while spike leaned on the frame of the entrance and finished his cigarette.

"If you want to kill each other," I said in a calm voice, "You can do that. But let's save the world so you can."

"Whatever mate, just tell your friend King-Kong to calm down."

"What!" Faith said as her upper lip rose.

Xander put his pointer finger up, ready to answer that question. "That's the only movie he watches... Sometimes I wonder why too."

"Oh." I said trailing off. I wasn't quite sure was happening. "Well... I think it's time we leave. I think it's gonna take Jordan a couple of days to decode those blueprints."

Faith gave Xander and Spike a dirty look before she walked out of the dining room. Giles picked up his briefcase and walked out. I looked at Xander one more time and walked behind them. Faith opened the door and held it open for me and Giles. We got into the elevator and rode down quietly until Faith cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry it went down like that, D."

I looked her way briefly and then back to the glowing lights decreasing. "Don't worry about it. At least I saw him."

She nudged me, "If you are so happy why don't you look it?"

I frowned as I chewed the inside of my lower lip. "I don't know. I just wish it wasn't the last time I would see him."

_DING! _

The elevator doors were about to open so I tottered toward the door. As the doors parted, I see Xander venturing toward us. He grasped the frame of the elevator door, almost out of breath and let a heaved sigh out.

"I...wanna..help.." he finally said.

I tilted my head to the side slightly, "You want to help us?"

"Yeah...I figured... you could need another pair of hands and... you know... another eye."

I stood quiet feeling my mouth working but no sounds would creep out. Giles stammered, giving more voice than I could at the moment. "We'd love the help, Xander."

I grimaced as I secretly gulped.

_Well Whaddaya know. Wishes do come true. . ._

* * *

><p><strong><span>Authors Note:<span>** Well this is Chapter Seven. I have it written out for the rest of the story but I would appreciate constructive criticism. I'd like to know if it's good so far, or bad? I'd love to hear from you. _  
><em>


	8. Chapter 8

Awkward silence was never a good friend of mine. It somehow seemed to fill the air surrounding me like a poison and I had the incredible need to fill it with babble because it felt like it was my primary occupation. I hated this silence with an inexcusable passion, but it just wasn't me either. No, this silence was very unpopular with everyone as well. Though this was true, everyone continued to let it conquer. I guess he was in office at this very moment. They don't like this awkward silence, but when on common ground their tense shoulders seem to relax.

As we entered into Giles' homey cottage, everyone who walked through the door let out a deep sigh. Faith dropped her bag, where the blueprints stayed while she walked to the backyard with spike to smoke a cigarette. Giles went into the kitchen and made a pot of tea. That meant it was just us three. Xander, me, & silence.

We stood between the living room and the kitchen, fighting with it. He gaped at me as I batter my eyelashes very pretty like. His hands slapped to his side as he jerked forward like I remember he used to do. "Wella.. It's just you and me now."

I crossed my arms. _What was I supposed to say? _This was a situation I never found myself in. For the past seven years all I did was fight and survive. I parted my lips to say something clever, something cute like '_Yeah? So what do you want to do about that?' _But silence found its way to hold my throat. I wondered how Buffy balanced the two with ease. I kept forgetting I was in a battle with silence, fighting for my right to survive. But I've been defeated, it won the war and battle.

"Yeah," I started dryly, like my throat was deprived of moisture. I cleared my throat while I looked around for help. I looked for Faith but she was nowhere to be found because, of course, she was still smoking. I nodded my head in the direction to the basement as a last resort. "I'm gonna go take the blueprints back to Jordan. Let him know how to do everything."

He nodded with a stern-less look trying to seem focused on what we both should have been in the first place. He pursed his lips very quickly as he crossed his arms, mimicking mine. "I'll go hang out with Giles' so he could keep me up to date."

With no words I walked away toward the bag Faith placed on the floor. I heard him press his feet hard against the wooden floors step by step, making them scream with expression. I puffed out my cheeks, as I picked the bag up.

Passing by the kitchen, I can hear Giles speaking with Xander very seriously. As I almost passed the kitchen fully, I raised my head slightly, seeing Xander staring into my eyes. I felt my senses heighten. I made sure I passed the kitchen completely before I stopped in the middle of the hallway trying to catch my breath.

I felt the blood, surging into my heart and my cheeks. I chewed the inside of my lip, trying to prevent this smile that was itching to come out. '_You're here to save the world Dawn,' _I thought to myself, '_Not go out with Xander Harris.' _I shook my head as I inched toward the basement door.

"Jordy," I yelled playfully coming down wooden stairs.

Coming closer, I can hear the clicking of the mouses and keyboards. "Hey Dawn, how was the trip?"

I let out a dramatic sigh while coming closer to him, "Oh you know. It was okay." I tried to sound as dry as I could.

"Hmm, I bet it was." He curiously moaned as he swirled in his chair. He stopped the chair directly in front of me and smile. "Did you find anything out while you were in Hellmouth 3.0?"

I can feel the corners of my mouth raise, uncontrollably. "I brought the goodies!" I took the blueprints out of Faith's bag and placed them flat onto a table. "Xander said that these blueprints are like meshed together. There's something below the high-schools and it keeps going for like five levels. You just have to separate them."

He snapped his fingers, like he just had a brain surge and began to look at me. His lips moved away from each other but as he begins to speak he became more like a silent movie. The more I try to concentrate the more he seemed so far away. I held my breath, not able to comprehend then what was happening.

Silence put a hit on me.

"Dawn!"

But it wouldn't win.

I blinked my eyes and looked right at where I thought he would be. He was gone. I turned around to see him hunched over the blueprints with a frazzled look tattooed through his face. He didn't understand what was happening and I didn't have the slightest clue either. Something whispering to me that it was another time jump. But all of this just didn't make sense. If it was D'hoffryn, like I inferred, he'd show up soon like he did in the warehouse. But something just didn't add up. I couldn't make heads or tails of it.

"Sorry, I zoned out. How long this time?"

"For like ten minutes." The tone Jordan used was something between annoyed and worried. "What's wrong with you?"

Before I could answer, my vision wiped itself away from me. I clenched my jaw and fist trying to remain calm regardless of any circumstances. "Jordan," I yelled while I looked around. It didn't feel like I was blind. It just felt like I was in a dark room. It took me a second to realize I _was_ in the time jump. My first thought was to move, to find a way out.

A buzzing sound wrapped itself around me before I could move. The sound became louder and thicker, until it became clear.

"Dawn!" Giles said my name forcefully. I turned around toward the stairs to see Xander, Giles, Jordan and Faith staring at me.

Faith took one step to me as she crossed her arms. "D, are you okay?"

I brushed my hair back with my hand as I avoided Faith, looking at Jordan. "How long this time?"

"This time?" Giles said confused as he took his glasses off.

"About 20 minutes now." He said while he looked at his watch. His eyes locked with mine, "Is this another power you have?"

"Power?" Giles repeated, slightly annoyed.

I feel the mist accumulating within my eyes "It's these God Dammed Time jumps!"

"But why is it only affecting you?"

I didn't know.

& I couldn't tell them because they faded from me again. Before I could respond to Giles it all started to happen again. It all happened to me. I tried to swallow down the ball that was forming in the back of my throat, but everything just seemed so impossible.

All of my life, I just wanted to be normal. I wanted to go to school, and graduate. Have a family who invites friends over for thanksgiving and Christmas eve; but I still couldn't even have that. I didn't want any of this. But of course, you're born into the family you have. It's not something you could choose. This was so hard to take in.

But I wouldn't let _them_ win.

I looked around me, but it looked like I never left. It felt like it was the basement, just different. But something then dawned on me...

If this was D'hoffryn he would've showed his face... Unless it wasn't him.

I tried to move but it felt like I was paralyzed. Every inch I moved my leg, the more my sides hurt. I clenched my side.

"What do you want from me?" I screamed, listening to my echo. Feeling my hands and legs vibrate as if I were in the freezing cold.

But I knew I was just angry.

Soon after, I heard slow footsteps approaching me.

I closed my eyes, feeling one tear traveling down my face. I concentrated on my breathing until I felt a long fingernail softly caress my tear.

"Do you like my machine, my dear?"

I spoke through my teeth. "What the hell are you doing?"

He walked around me, standing closer. "Well! I'm doing what any Villain would do. I'm giving you a taste of what's in store. Are you enjoying my little game?"

I remained silent. I opened my eyes to see nothing but a blurred black vision in front of me. It walked around the basement slowly. I closed my eyes again to see it better and this somehow calmed me down.

He chuckled darkly. "It's fine, you don't have to speak, Dawn. I just want you to prepare yourself because I don't think it would be a fair fight if you weren't prepared. You can run to that Librarian watcher of yours and to that tortured slayer but you can never be prepared for your death, right?"

I opened my eyes again and clenched my jaw. I tried not to move, because with every inch I hurt internally. It took a few steps until it was behind me. He kissed the back of my neck and I felt my stomach turn in every disgustingly way possible.

He caressed my arms from behind, as he whispered into my ear. "You are still a young woman, Dawn. You have a lot to learn about life and especially your friends. Everything you think I am, I'm not. Everything you think you know about them, you don't."

The ball in my throat bounced up until I could force it down. I looked around this vacant room and felt my lips move. I tried to push out a voice from within me, but all I could feel was a whisper.

"_Why me? ...Why can't they see you?" _

I felt his lips press to my ear.

"Because I am inside of you.

I am inside of your head.

_I. Am. You._"

I opened my eyes quickly, to see Giles and Faith over me. I feel my eyes trying to find a purpose while they looked around bewilderingly. I feel my body shock and water spewing out of my eyes. Someone grabs me tightly cradling me back and fourth. I grab their forearm to see who it was as I tilt my head up a little.

"It's going to be okay, Dawn. I'm here." Xander said. His eyes becoming glassy as he rocks me back and fourth.

Giles kneels down as he grabs my face and speaks to me as clear as I could hear him. "Dawn, what happened."

My eyebrows furrowed toward my hairline as I couldn't respond to him with nothing but tears and screams. I let go of Xander's arm as I touched my head violently. "He's in my head, Giles. I can't get it out."

Slowly, I felt my thoughts fade. Everything I knew is just gone. My mind has turned into mush and i'm trying to remember everything.

Giles' voice started to trail off.

Eventually it just became pictures with no sound.

I couldn't think correctly, so even in my head everything seemed like nothing but a dark warehouse.

_Silence..._

Awkward silence was never a good friend of mine.

_It always had a way to drive me crazy..._


	9. Chapter 9

When I used to attend my therapy sessions, Susan used to always tell me that I was one person who had it easy. There were people who saw things and who felt darkness everyday when they woke up. I used to smile to myself because she didn't know who I was or what abilities I had. No matter what illnesses they had they were always better off.

_But I know now…_

Every second that passes by as I lay in this bed, I feel it. Every light and function in my body slowly turning off. The ability to feel was no longer a luxury. All I can do is see it.

I watch the rain violently attack the window panes and all I can do is see it. I can't feel it or myself for that matter because physically I wasn't there. I could only imagine what I looked like with tired eyes and my mouth open as if I were a mental lunatic on medication.

I am weak. I am just a vessel of a person who slowly was losing their grip on reality.

That _things_ voice wrapped with my late sisters haunted my entire mind. I can feel my temples throbbing and my brain swelling as I pulled my hair trying to get the voices out. I toss and turn at the thought of his lips touching the back of my neck and the last smile I ever saw my sister make. But I knew what it wanted from me and I wasn't going to give it to them. These thoughts can ring in my mind all it wanted, but I wouldn't scream.

I closed my eyes because the rain wasn't making anything better and stared into the darkness. Like an empty warehouse, my thoughts were just vacant.

Then suddenly a bright figure found its way toward me. With a smile as luminous as hers, I knew I was letting her in. I was letting my mind think about Buffy.

Everything felt so real, but I knew it was just only a memory. I was just too tired to think about anything else.

She linked her arm with mine as we walked down Sunset Boulevard. I remember this day because it was the last with her. The last day she would ever know. She wanted to take me shopping to boost my spirits because I failed a math class. But all she got was a heart attack.

"You know," she said to me with a quirky tone she used to make me feel better. It was a mix of confused and hopeful. "You're going to be more than you'll ever know."

I clenched her arm as tightly as I could while I just stared at her. Though I knew this was a memory, it just felt so damn real. But I didn't want anything to change. "Oh yeah," I said trying to sound as hopeful as I did then. "How do you know?"

She shrugged her shoulders and she did her little pout. "Oh I don't know. I just know you will." We both stopped as she turned to me pointing her finger at me like a loaded weapon. "Don't let this get you down. One of us has to be normal. I'm putting all of my money on you."

She smiled the most hopeful smile I could remember and I tried to do the same. I can feel my eyes leak as she looked into them. "You're going to get married and have a lot of kids and—" She stopped her self and in that second, I felt my heart drop. It took me a second to realize this wasn't a memory.

This was the real Buffy.

"Something's wrong. This isn't right." Her eyes searched for truth within mine. Bewilderingly she tried to look for an answer.

"What do you mean?" I said. I tried to formulate an excuse so that she wouldn't be afraid. But then I realized something: Buffy was strong mentally and physically so she knew the truth already.

She looked around Sunset Boulevard and watch familiar faces pass by. "We're not really here, are we?" I didn't respond. Her eyes gazed at me so I knew mine told her everything. She squared her eyes trying to read my mind. "I'm already dead."

I froze. I can feel my face becoming tighter and tighter, trying not to move because I was afraid I'd lose her or worse… cry.

She quickly grabbed my wrist and leaned forward into me "I must be here for a reason Dawn. So you listen to me—I can't be there to help you. But I know you can do whatever it is you have to. You're smart; Dawn and you cannot give up. Don't ever think there isn't a way because there always is. You have a family beside you every step of the way and I'm always going to be with you. _Always_"

Everything around us started to crumble. She and I looked up as we saw the sky falling down. I think I was slowly waking up from whatever I was in. She looked at me and held me tight. "I love you, Buffy." I whispered in her ear because I didn't have enough air to speak any louder.

She slowly slipped away from me. "I love you too, Dawn. Remember, you have the heart of a Summers."

XX

I abruptly opened my eyes. It felt like a gift that I woke up alone. I inhaled strongly trying to find my center. I exhaled softly watching the rain slowly go away. It didn't take long before someone knocked reluctantly on the door.

I didn't want to be bothered because I didn't know what was happening. I wanted time to think. But of course, they refused my wishes.

Someone turned the knob and slowly opened the door. It was Giles with a large tray of what seemed like tea.

"Can I come in," he asked humbly inching his way passed the door.

"Sure." I can feel the corners of my mouth weakly raising and falling down all in the same instance.

"Do you mind if I turn on the light?"

I didn't want the lights on. I wanted to be left alone in the dark but Giles had this eagerness to turn them on so I shook my head. He always could read us and I don't know if it was because he was old or he just really knew us, but he did. He held his hand above the light switch only to take it down and reach into his pocket. He lit a candle and placed it next to me. He gestured his hand to the bed asking if he could sit without saying anything. I sat up and curled into a ball against the headboard, wrapping my arms around my legs holding them against my chest. He sat on the edge of the bed as he exhaled calmly. He placed his hand on his thighs while trying really hard to think of something.

"How are the headaches" he questioned. He felt so estranged from me that I knew this was all difficult for him.

"They're going away slowly." I lied.

They were only getting worse but one thing I didn't want was to worry him, though he knew even if I didn't tell him. He reached for the tray and opened an aspirin bottle. He takes two out and hands me them plus a cup of tea. "Take these. It'll make the pain go away faster."

I meekly lowered my head to hide in front of my hair. At this moment I felt ashamed to have even lied to him when I should've told him what was going on. But how do you tell someone that your dead sister spoke to you in a dream?

He gaped at me as I take a sip of the tea he provided, I felt as if I were being examined. To avoid the most awkward moment that was coming I looked at the window watching the dark clouds pass by. Though my eyes are seeing something so visual, I can feel Giles still staring at me. From the corner of my eye I see him taking his glasses off as he stares at his feet.

"You know I understand how you feel, Dawn."

"What's that," I asked. My face freezes as I try to show no signs of weakness. The sun comes out inch by inch.

"Lost. If Buffy were here she would know what to do. If she were here-"

"If Buffy were here, none of this would be happening in the first place. This is happening because she _is_ dead." I rudely cut him off because he needed to understand that she's gone. But I think in telling him I was reassuring myself.

He peeked up at me looking through his mental library trying to formulate the right words but there weren't any, I suppose. "Dawn…"

"No, Giles. You don't get it, Faith doesn't get it, the slayers I train ever year – They don't get it! Buffy is gone! There are over a million slayers in the world and they're great but you know what? None of them are my sister! You can try to explain with your big words and we can plan out everything but without Buffy we're hopeless... I'm just _hopeless._"

Silence overthrew the room and took over. I tried hard not to look into his eyes as he pierces his into my soul but it was so hard. I knew what I had said and I meant every single word, and I expected him to be angry with me but instead he looked at me very kindly. He let out a small huff as he smiled, "I'm scared too, Dawn."

My eyebrows pulled together as my bottom lip quivered. How did he know me so well? It took me only one second to realize that he and the rest of the newly-attached Scooby gang is who Buffy was talking about. I felt like the world was my ship, I was the captain, and I knew it was sinking but I have such a lovely crew that they'd go down with me. _They were my family._ I felt so overwhelmed that by the time I realized Giles had wrapped his arms around me and gave me the tightest hug I've ever known him to give.

Once he let go, somehow, I felt better. I wiped my tears away while he watched me. He nodded his head only slightly before asking me something inquisitively. "Dawn? I must ask you something."

"Go ahead," I said sniffling all the way through.

"Well the other day—"

He was interrupted. The door slammed wide open with Xander holding the doorknob. His face eager and scared all at the same time trying to say the impossible. "You guys come quick! It's Willow, she doesn't look good."

With no more words after "Willow" I leaped from the bed and followed Xander to the Basement. There she was tied with metal chains, screaming at the top of her lungs. Heartbroken and hooked on the magic she had tried so hard to get away from, there she was.

…Susan used to always tell me that I was one person who had it easy. There were people who saw things and who felt darkness everyday when they woke up…_If they even woke up at all._ I used to smile to myself because she didn't know who I was or what abilities I had. No matter what illnesses they had they were always better off.

_But I know now…_


End file.
